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SECESSION AN ABSURDITY : 

IT IS 

PERJURY, TREASON & WAR ; 

TO WHICH ARK .ADDED 

TKEASON DEFINED, 

gedantiou of litirepttoa, 

. AND 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 




By FRANCIS G. TREADWELL, 

COUNSELLOR AT LAW, 

Lttwrtr upon </«« Conttilulion of tltt Unittd Statu. 



ROSS & TOUSEY, 121 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK 

General Agents for Publishers, Newsdealers <£ Booksellers 



SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS. 



SECESSION Atf ABSURDITY : 

IT IS 

PERJURY, TREASON & WAR ; 

TO WHICH ARE .ADDED 

TREASON DEFINED, 

Serlrata of Impentontt, 

AND 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



BY FRANCIS C. TREAD WELL, 

COUNSELLOR AT LAW, 

LECTURER. UPON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 

STATES. 
SKCO.ND EDITION, WITH ADnrnoNS. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1861, 

By FRANCIS C. TREAD WF.LL, 

In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern 

District of New York. 



Itcui t)ork: ' , 

TORRES BROTHERS, PRINTERS, 13 SPRUCE ST. 
186 1. 



£44 




tW For F. C. Treadwell's complaint against the 
Traitors, with the "improper" remarks of Chief 
Justice Taney, see page 15, under "Notes by the 
Author." 

*"}.: Grift. 
W. L. Shoemaker 
7 S 



SECESSION AN ABSURDITY. 



The letter-writers from Washington tell us that 
President Buchanan is not opposed to Secession, 
but will resist Nullification. But how Secession 
can be brought about without Nullification, they 
do not explain. The Constitution of the United 
States in its enacting clause declares that — 

11 We, the people of the United States, in order to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
quility, provide for the common defense, promote the general 
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the 
United States of America." 

This clause is not a preamble, as sometimes it 
has been called ; but it is the enacting clause, the 
head and front, the life and soul of the Constitution. 
It is the onlj part of the instrument which pro- 
claims to us and to the world whose act and deed 
it is. The States, as such, did not make the Con- 
stitution, nor can they, as States, secede from it, 
nullify it, or abolish it 

The People of the United States made, ordained 
and established the Constitution, and they only 
can change it in the mode provided therein, or 
abolish it. 

Neither the State of South Carolina, nor Georgia, 
nor all the people in both of them, with or without 
the unanimous consent of half a dozen adjoining 
States, and all the people therein, can alter, secede 
from, nor nullify the Constitution. They may 
think about it, and talk about it, and may intend to 



4 SECESSION AN AfJ-Sl'l'-DITT. 

do it, and may even go so far as to write and pub- 
lish their intentions, but the moment they proceed 
to acts, to carry such intentions into effect, by 
raising " troops or ships of war," or emitting bills 
of credit, in order to provide such supplies, or pay 
land or naval forces, they commit the crime of 
treason; and that moment the President of the 
United States for the time being will, if he performs 
his duty, and regards his oath of office as ohHgatoa y 
upon him, send the whole naval and military power 
of the United States, militia and all, if need be, to 
suppress the treason, and briug the traitors to con- 
dign punishment. 

In that case, there will be no legal distinction of 
offending persons. Governors and senators, judges 
and generals, will meet the traitor's doom alike 
with the deluded subordinates who may be drawn 
into the fray by the delusive arts and sophistry of 
corrupt, ambitious leaders. If mercy shall be ex- 
tended to any, the followers, rather than the 
leaders, will be likely to reap the benefit of it. 
Civil officers of the United States, who shall be im- 
peached for and convicted of treason and other 
crimes, can obtain no relief from Executive inter- 
position by wh) oi reprieve or pardon. 

The advocates for secession, seem to claim that 
the Union is a mere Confederacy, or league of sov- 
ereign States, from which any one of them can 
withdraw at pleasure. Nothing can be more false 
and delusive. The Union is not a Confederacy, 
neither of sovereign nor of subordinate Slates, but 
a Constitution of Government by and for the people, 
the whole people of the United States, as declared 
by the enacting clause of the Constitution. Limited, 
indeed, by its terms, but yet a great and powerful 



SECESSION AN ABSURDITY. 5 

Government, ordained and established for great 
and glorious ends. 

The several separate States are not sovereign. No 
one of them is sovereign. A sovereign State can 
declare war and make peace— can enter into treaties, 
alliances or Confederations ; grant letters of 
marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of 
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a 
tender in payment of debts, and do many other 
acts. Our States are, by the Constitution, posi- 
tively prohibited from doing either of these, and 
many other acts. In many respects they are under 
the guardianship of the Congress of the United 
States. For instance — 

:< Xo Rate shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay 
any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may 
be absolutely necessary fur executing its inspection laws. &c, 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control 
of the Congress. No State shail. without the consent of Con- 
gress lay any duty of tuunage, keep troops or ships of war in 
time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with 
another Kate, or with a foreign power, or encage in war, un- 
less actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay. ' ; — Con. U. S., Art. 1, S. 10. 

How preposterous, then, is it to call States bound 
down by stringent provisions like these, sovereign 
States, and talk of and threaten secession, nullifi- 
cation and war, when the first actual movement 
they may make in preparation for either, will be an 
act of treason against the United States. 

The States of South Carolina and Georgia, if the 
accounts we receive from them are not idle rhodo- 
montade, upborne by equally idle blusterings here, 
are now contemplating, and preparing for, what 
they call a peaceful secession. Their preparations 
for war helie their peaceful professions. They can- 



6 SECESSION AN ABSURDITY. 

not be so ignorant as not to know that there can 
be no such thing as peaceful secession without an 
amendment of the Constitution, which would re- 
quire the concurrence of twenty-six States at least, 
in the mode prescribed by the Constitution. This, 
or a successful revolutionary war, is the only al- 
ternative. 

The former is manifestly an utter impossibility. 
Can men in their senses be so blinded by their re-? 
sentment at what they deem an untoward result 
of the election of a President under the forms of 
the Constitution, as to peril all they now possess 
by a revolutionary war, for what they are pleased 
to call Southern independence ? States with a ser- 
vile population equal, or nearly equal, in numbers, 
to the ruling class, ought to be, ami doubtless will 
be, suided by more prudent counsels. They do not, 
they cannot, mean to do what they threaten to do ; 
but they intend, by continual menaces, to extort, 
if possible, some concessions from Northern fears. 

Threats during an exciting canvass for a Presiden- 
tial election have been unavailing to prevent the 
election of Mr. Lincoln, and if the President elect is 
the man his friends believe him to Iks threats din- 
ing his Administration will be of as little avail. Ail 
the rights of the people of each and every State in 
the Union will, it is hoped and believed, be duly 
guarded and secured, the laws duly executed, and 
the Constitution preserved, protected, and defended. 

Threats of Southern governors, le^ii-lators, and 
politicians, to tax the productions of Northern 
States, indicate the impotence of the men who 
make them, and their ignorance of the Constitution. 

" No fix or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State."— Con. U. S., Art. 1, Sec. 9, fl 5. 



SECESSION AN ABSURDITY. 7 

Thus, it is seen that the South has no more power 
to lay duties on Northern productions, than the 
North has to tax cotton, rice, or tobacco. 

Again, they threaten to break up our system of 
finance— to compel us to buy of them for ready 
money, and to sell to them on credit. The former 
they can do with advantage to both parties. The 
latter will require our consent as well as theirs. 
Let them adhere to their present plan of exacting 
gold for their cotton, and drawing from us their 
present balances in gold. They will thereby bene- 
fit us in two ways. First, by reducing the prices of 
their exports, and secondly, by reducing the volume 
of our inflated currency, give our manufactures and 
other exports a more substantial protection than all 
the tariffs, high and low, that Congress ever enact- 
ed. It is much to be desired that the South will 
adhere to this improved financial course of action, 
and derive from it equal profit with the North. 

With all their boasted State Eights and State 
Sovereignty, the Southern States have no power to 
regulate commerce. They must submit to such 
commercial regulations as Congress, under the Con- 
stitution, have made, and may hereafter prescribe. 
In the Convention of 1787, Gen. Charles Cotesworth 
Pinckney, of South Carolina, said : 

u It was the true interest of the Southern States to have no 
regulation of commerce ; but considering the loss brought on 
the Eastern State? by the Revolution, their liberal conduct 
toward the views of South Carolina, and the Interest the weak 
Southern States had in being united with the strong Eastern 
States, he thought it proper that no tetters should be imposed 
on the power of making commercial regulations, and that his 
constituents, though prejudiced against the Eastern States, 
wouid be reconciled to this liberality. He had, himself, he 
said, prejudices against the Eastern States before he came 



8 SECF.S^IOX AN ABSURDITY. 

here, but he would acknowledge that he had found them as 
liberal and candid as any men whatever/' 

Madisoa Pap. 1451. 

Mr. Charles Pinckney, one of the colleagues of 
Gen. P., had moved that the assent of two thirds 
of the members of each House should he required t<» 
pass commercial regulations, and this speech of the 
lien, was the first response to that moth u. 

After fall debate, the motion of Mr. C. Pinckney 
was negatived, and the majority principle unani- 
mously agreed to, as advocated by Gen. C. C. 
Pinckney. 

It would be an act of madness, of political suicide 
for the weak Southern States to secede from the 
strong Eastern States. Relatively, the former are 
now weaker, and the latter stronger, than they 
were at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. 
Beside, the Western States, not then in existence, 
are now stronger than either. In vain will the tru- 
ant seceders of South Carolina and Georgia look to 
Louisiana and other States bordering on the Missis- 
sippi, for alliance, aid or comfort in treasonable se- 
cession. In vain will they seek to shut up or con- 
trol the mouths of the Father of Waters. His 
young and vigorous children of the mighty West 
would come down in an avalanche, upon the slight- 
est attempt, to tax their trade, or interrupt their in- 
tercourse with the commercial world through that 
channel, and shatter and scatter to the winds all 
opposition. 

" No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance 
ation ; grant letters of mvrque and reprisal; coin money; 
emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver com a 
tender in payment of debts : pass any bill of an tinder or ex- 
post/net" law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts ; or 
gtant any title of nobility. "— -Ctata. I*. S., Art 1. - 



SECESSION AN ABSURDITY. 9 

Are the seceders ignorant of these vital provisions 
of the Constitution ? Do they not know that its ob- 
ject was to restrain them from war, or preparations 
for war, on their own account, and bind them to 
peace ? War is the prerogative of Congress, not of 
the States. If the States 'shall attempt to make, or 
carry on war, by means raised on their State bonds, 
which are nothing but bills of credit, Congress can 
and must stop their circulation, by passing penal 
acts upon the persons who put them out, or deal in 
them. 

■ When States threaten secession and war, and en- 
list troops, and collect means to carry on war. Con- 
gress are bound to crush the treason in the bud. To 
prevent the war from breaking out, as well as to 
conquer the active foe. And the cheapest way to 
do it is to prevent the insurgents from raising 
money, the sinews of war. Congress itself, in such 
cases, will need to borrow money on the credit of 
the United States, which they are authorized to do. 
and will then be compelled, in self-defense, to pro- 
hibit the States from competition with the United 
States in the money markets. Even now, States 
that want money for internal improvement cannot 
raise it on their " bills of credit," without sacrificing 
from a fourth to a third part of the face of them. 
What the sacrifice must be when the bills shall be 
offered for war sinews, will be seen when, if ever 
that occasion shall arise. 

New York, Nov. 20, 1860. 



REPUBLICAN CENTRAL CLUB. 



The Republican Central Club met on Thursday 
evening, Jan. 10th, in their new quarters, No. 814 
Broadway, T. G. Girvan in the chair. 

Mr. F. C. Treadwell offered the following : 

Whereas, A band of traitors in the Cabinet at Washington, ill 
both Houses of Congress, and in several of the Southern Suites 
of ttiis Republic, have made war against the United States : 
have seized forts, arsenal-, and other public property ; robbed 
the treasury, obstructed the telegraph, and committed other 
acts of violence, in combination and conspiracy agai st the peo- 
ple of the United States, and their Constitution of Government, 
for the purpose of introducing Slavery temporarily or per- 
manently into every state and Territory of this Union ; there- 
fore, 

Resolved, That the Constitution as it is, provides the most 
perfect system of government known to man ; that it needs no 
amendment, and shall have none, at the beck and call of 
traitors, or their insolent mouth-pieces. 

Resolved, That we hold ourselves ready, and tender our ser- 
vices to the State, or the National Government, or both, to aid 
to the extent of our power in crushing this formidable and 
wicked rebellion ; determined, at all hazards, that the Consti- 
tution shall be "preserved, protected, and defended," peace 
restored, and the blessings of liberty, of liberty of speech and 
the press, fully and amply vindicated and secure I. 

THOMAS G. GIRVAN, Chairman, .pro tem. 

Alfred C. Hiixs, ] „ , . 

Edward M. Skuhusu, } Secretaries. 

The resolutions were put and carried, amid shouts 
of applause, and ordered to be published. 

Gen. Nye was loudly called for, and made a 
speech counseling firmness on the part of t\\v Re- 
publicans, and a determination to do right. 



NOTES BY THE AUTHOR. 



In the Federal Convention of 1789, which 
drafted the Constitution of the United States, a mo- 
tion was made that the then existing constitutions 
and laws of the several States should be guaranteed 
by the general Government. This was objected to 
and overruled. Mr. Gouvernenr Morris said he 
would not guarantee such laws as those of Rhode 
Island. 

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Charles the 
Second, King of England, that monarch, of his royal 
*• will and pleasure, especial grace, certain knowl- 
edge, and mere motion," as is stated therein, granted 
a charter to Benedict Arnold, and others, declaring 
them " from time to time, and forever hereafter, a 
body corporate and politic, in fact and name, by the 
name of fhe Governor and Company of the English 
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
in New England, in America ; and that by the same 
name, they and their successors shall and may have 
perpetual succession," &c. 

The Constitution of the United States went into 
operation in 3789. Rhode Island, taking no part 
in framing or ratifying it, was treated as a foreign 
State, and duties were laid upon her manufactures 
when imported into the States of the Union. 

On the 29th of May, 1790, a Convention of the 
State assembled at Newport, and ratified the Con- 
stitution of the United States, proposing certain 
amendments, which were never adopted. For fifty 



12 NOTES BY THE AUTHOR. 

years or more, the State continued to be gov- 
erned more by the charter of Charles than by the 
principles of a republican form of government, un- 
til the year 1841, when, after much discussion, a 
constitution was framed and ratified by the votes 
of a majority of the people, and a governor. Thos 
W. Dorr, was elected under it. Scenes of turmoil 
and some violence ensued, and Gov. Dorr fled from 
the State ; but returning, was indicted for treason 
against the State of Rhode Island, tried at Newport, 
convicted, and sentenced for life to bard labor in 
the State's prison, in separate confinement. 

Here a conspiracy was formed by all the branches 
of the government of the State of Rhode Island and 
the inspectors of the prison, to prevent Dorr from 
takins: his case, by writ of error, to the Supreme 
Court of the United States for revision ; and under 
this conspiracy, neither Dorr's father, mother, 
counsel, nor friends, were, for a long time, permit- 
ted to visit him, lest they should give him an op- 
portunity to see and sign a petition fur a writ of er- 
ror. 

Under these circumstances, prompted by feelings 
of humanity, the Society of Land Reformers in New 
York, an association formed for the advocacy of the 
freedom of the public lands to actual settlers and 
land limitation, called a meeting of their body t'» 
inquire, and, if possible, to ascertain if any men is 
sould be devised to break up this conspiracy, and 
give Dorr an opportunity to regain his liberty by a 
revision of his case. 

At that meeting, the short article entitled Treason 
Defined, whv h, on the pages of this little hook pre- 
cedes the Declaration of Independence, was read by 
one of the members. The main object was to sbow 



NOTES BY THE ADTUOU. 13 

that under the Constitution of the United States, 
there could he no such crime as treason, committed 
against a separate or single State of this Union. 
War against a State, is war against the United 
States. The act must be treason against the United 
States, or it cannot he treason at all. 

The article when read before the Society was not 
intended for publication, but only for the private 
use of the members thereof. Deeming a pocket 
copy of the article, with the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and the Constitution of the United States 
convenient, if not indispensable, for reference, an 
edition of several thousand copies was published 
and mostly distributed gratuitously. 

Now that treason against the United States is rife 
in several States of this Union, advocated and de- 
fended by men who have long held prominent posi- 
tions as statesmen, and has done its utmost to 
plunge the country into the horrors of civil war ; 
preparations have been made, by stereotyping, to 
publish both small and large editions of this work, 
in form for a pocket companion. Everybody ought 
to have at hand a copy of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and the Constitution of the United States, 
and everybody ought to be familiar with their prin- 
ciples. They are drawn up in such plain language., 
that, with a little instruction, most school-boys and 
girls of ten or twelve years of age may understand 
them. 

The definition of treason in the words of the Con- 
stitution is so short and so plain, that for an Amer- 
ican citizen to be ignorant of it, should be held to 
be inexcusable. The crime of misprision of treason, 
it is to be apprehended, is far less known, and the 
importance of a knowledge of it is much less appro- 



14 NOTES BT THE AUTHOK. 

dated than the interests and safety of the country 
demand. 

Is it not nndeniahle that the crime of treason 
against the United States has heen committed hy 
one or more members of the Cabinet at Washing- 
ton, and by many members of Congress ? Is it not 
evident that other members of the Cabinet and of 
Congress must have had knowledge of the commis- 
sion of these treasons ? And yet, who, among them 
all, have complained of these treasons to the Presi- 
dent, to a Judge of the United* States ; to a Gov- 
ernor, or to a Judge or Justice of a State, in order 
that those magistrates should, as in duty and in 
oath bound, to institute proceedings against the 
traitors, and crush treason in the bud ? 

If any one has done this, let him answer. If any 
one has failed to do it, let him, if he can, show the 
reason why. Are any ignorant of the law ? If so, 
is that a valid excuse for a Cabinet member, a mem- 
ber of Congress, or even a private citizen ? 

Does any one conceal treason for fear of being 
called by an opprobrious epithet, an informer ? 
Point out the man, and you point to a felon, who, 
at least, is half traitor — to one who, when he sees 
a thief, consents with him. 

Where is the moral sense of the people of "Wash- 
ington, the capital of the Republic, of the members 
of the Cabinet, and of Congress ; of the people of 
the United States, when treason stalks abroad in 
six States of the Union, and finds sympathizing 
aiders and abettors in, at least, as many more, and 
no traitor is brought to the bar of justiee ? Where ? 
Echo answers, where ? 

Congress has power " to exercise exclusive legis- 
lation, in all cases whatsoever over " the district of 



NOTES BY THE AUTHOR. 15 

Columbia. What laws govern that Capital ? The 
laws of Congress, or the laws of the thief, the 
gambler, the assassin, and the traitor? 

Is the Constitution regarded as law, and in ope- 
ration there ? 

What magistrates and what officers hear rule or 
ruin there ? Are they honest ? Are they capable ? 
Are they faithful to the Constitution ? Ask mem- 
bers of Congress these questions, and it is doubtful 
if one in ten of them can give any other answers 
than that they don't know. 

How many members of the present Congress, 
who have sworn to support the Constitution, have 
gone off to the so-called seceding States, and com- 
mitted both perjury and treason ! And what effort 
has the present Administration of the Government 
made, to bring the offenders to justice ? These are 
serious questions, and if the present Administration 
is permitted to go off disregarding them, the in- 
coming Administration will have a heavy and 
thankless task thrown upon it, to guard the country 
against the consequences of the evil deeds of its 
immediate predecessor. Will the members of the 
new Administration do their duty ? We shall see ? 
The people expect it of them, and. at the conclusion 
of their labors, will be happy to have it in their 
power to say, and say truly, " Well done, good 
and faithful servants ! " New York, March 4, 1861. 

The following is a true copy of F. C. Tread well's complaint 
against the Traitors, which was placed in the hands of Chief 
Justice Taney, on the 19th of January, 1861. On the 22d the 
paper was returned by Mr. Carroll, the Clerk of the Court, who 
stated that he was directed by the Chief Justice to return the 
papers to the complainant, and to say to him — " that they were 
improper papers to be presented to the Court." Let the law- 
yers and the public, after reading the laws upon Treason and 
Misprision of Treason , decide which was " improper," the com- 
plaint, or its return by Judge Taney. 
District of Columbia, Cily and County of Washington, ss : 

I, Francis C. Treadwell, of the City , County and State of New 
York, a counsellor of the Supreme Court of the United States, 



on solemn affirmation, complain and state as facts of public no- 
toriety, 

That divers citizens hereinafter named, of South Carolina and 
other States of this Union, and other persona to this affirmant 
unknown, owing allegiance to the United States of America, 
have conspired against the Constitution and Government there- 
of, and have committed the crime* of misprision of Treason 
Treason, and other high crimes and misdemeanors, against thq 
peace, welfare and dignity of the said United States, and tha 
people thereof, and the Constitution and laws of the 
States, in such case made and provided : 

T» wit : James H. Hammond, James Chestnut. J. W. Hayne 
John McQueen, W. Porcher Miles, Lawrence M. Keitt, M 
L. Bonham, John D. A&hmore, William W. Boyce, James L 
Orr, all of the Slate of South Carolina. 

Also, Jefferson Davis, Jacob Thompson, Albert G. Brown 
Lucius Q. C. Iamar,Ke;iben Davis, William Barksdale, Otho R 
Singleton, John J. McRae, all of the State of Mississippi. 

Also, Benjamin Fitzpatrick, C. C. Clay, Jr., James A. Stall 
worth, James L. Pugh, David Clopton, Sydenham .Moore, W. R. 
W. Cobb, Jabez 1.. M. Curry, all of the State of Alabama. 

Aho, D. L. Yulee, S. R. Mallory, George S. Hawkins, all of 
the Stale of Florida. 

Aho, Lewis T. Wigfall, John Reagan, John H. Hemphill, all 
of the State of Texas. 

Also, Joseph Line, of Oregon. 

Also, James M. Mason, Robert M. T. Hunter, Henry A.Wise, 
John B Floyd, Roger A. Pryor,a?f of the State of Virginia, 

Also, Judah P. Benjamin, John Slidell, Miles Taylor, Thomas 
G. Davidson, John M. Landrum, all of Hie Stat", of Louisiana. 

A Iso, Robert Toombs, A. Iverson, Peter E. Love, Martin J. 
Crawford, Thomas Hardeman, Jr., Lucius J. Gartrell, J. W. If 
Underwood, James Jackson, John J. Joaes, Howell Cobb, all 
of the State (f Georgia, : 

Wherefore this affirmant p'-ays, that the persons herein 
above named, and all other persons guilty of the like crimes 
and misdemeanors, may be arrested and held to answer for 
such offences, at the Supreme Court of the United States, or at 
such other tribunals as the Hon. Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice 
Of that Court, or either of the Associate Justices of that Court, 
or any other Magistrate of the United States may direct and 
order: and that the Honorable James Buchanan, Honorable 
Jeremiah S. Black, Honorable Joseph Holt, Lieutenant Genera] 
Winfleld Scott, and such other witnesses as may have knowledge 
of the commission of the orlmes afore- aid, may be duly sum- 
moned and held to testify in the premises. F. c. Thk u>wki.l. 

To the Honorable Roger B Ta'.ey, Chief Justice, the Hon. John MoLeau, 
and other Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Affirmed to before me, the subscriber, a Justice of the Peace 
inand for said County and District. B. W. Fkrquso.v, Jr. 

Wa shington, Dislrvi if Columbia, January 19&, 1 SGI. 



TREASON DEFINED: 

BY 

FRANCIS C. TREADWELL, 

COUNSELLOR' AT LAW, AND LECTURER UPON THE 
CONSTITUTION. 



TO WHICj: ARK ADDED, THI 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 



AND THE 



CONSTITUTION 



THE UNITED STATES. 



NEW YORK : 

PUBLISHED AT THE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS OFFICE, 
29 ANN-STREET. 

1844. 
Price 10 cents 



PREFACE. 

The definition of Treason, in Art. 3, sec. 3, of the Constitution of 
the United States, though brief, would seem to be sufficiently explicit 
without a commentary. The idea that the crime of treason can, in a 
single sovereign nation, be committed against twenty-seven sovereign 
powers, seems too extravagant to need refutation. Hut since the 
several States have their acts upon treason, and since one of the 
purest and best men in one of them is now under sentence of solitary 
imprisonment for life for an alleged offence against one of these acts, 
a feeling of humanity, no less than of watchful vigilance tor liberty, 
demands of every friend of free government, an impartial examination 
of the validity of such a procedure. 

To diffuse the Constitution itself in a form convenient for the 
pocket of every individual, is deemed to be the best mode of making 
known the "supreme law of the land." If this attempt to expose 
the abuse of one of its important provisions shall be received with 
favour by the public, other similar abuses may hereafter be sought to 
be corrected in the same manner. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, 
By FRANCIS C. TREADWELL, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern Dis- 
trict of New York. 



TREASON DEFINED. 



What is treason ? What is the punishment of that 
crime ? 

The Constitution of the United States, " the su 
preme law of the land," thus, in a few words, de- 
fines the crime of treason : 

" Treason against the United States, shall consist 
only in levying war against them, or in adhering to 
their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No per- 
son shall be convicted of treason unless on the testi- 
mony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on 
confession in open court." Art. III. Sec. 3. 

The next sentence empowers Congress " to declare 
the punishment of treason." 

" The Congress shall have power to declare the 
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason 
shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except 
during the life of the person attainted." 

In pursuance of this power, the Act of Congress of 
Ihe 3Uth April, 1790, declares: 

" If any person or persons, owing allegiance to the 
United States of America, shall levy war against them, 
or shall adhere to their enemies, giving them aid and 
comfort, within the United States, or elsewhere, and 
shall be thereof convicted, on confession in open court, 
or on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt 
act of treason whereof he or they shall stand indicted, 



4 TREASON DEFINED. 

such person or persons shall be adjudged guilty of 
treason against the United States, and shall suffer 
death. 

" If any person or persons, having knowledge of the 
commission of any of the treasons aforesaid, shall 
conceal, and not, as soon as may be, disclose and make 
known the same to the President of the United States, 
or some one of the judges thereof, or to the president 
or governor of a particular State, or some one of the 
judges or justices thereof, such person or persons, on 
conviction, shall be adjudged guilty of misprision of 
treason, and shall be imprisoned not exceeding seven 
years, and fined not exceeding one thousand dulktrs.'' 

What is " levying war Y* 

To collect, enrol, or enlist men, take up arms, and 
make a forcible attack, is to levy war. An overt act, 
is an open, public, apparent act. 

What, then, is levying war against the United 
States? An overt act of war against any one of the 
United States, territories, districts or fortresses, is an 
act of war against the United States. As much so as 
an attack upon each and every one of them. Indeed 
it is an attack upon each and every one of them, in 
their highest, their dearest, their collected, their united 
character. 

How then can the crime of treason be committed 
against a single State, in its separate distinct capaci- 
ty ? Most certainly it cannot. The act will be 
treason against the United States, or it cannot be 
treason at all. The people of the United States have, 
in their Constitution, in the brief and forcible words 
quoted above, declared in what, and only in what, the 
crime of treason shall consist. They have therein de- 
clared upon what evidence, and cm/y'upon what evi- 



TREASON DEFINED. ft 

dence, conviction shall be had. and have authorized 
Congress, under a strict limitation, to declare the pun- 
ishment of treason. 

Congress has decreed the punishment of death 
against ail persons who commit the crime, of treason. 
How then can a single State fritter down a crime 
committed against the United States to an offence 
against itself alone, and commute the punishment of 
death for that of imprisonment for life ; grant a re- 
prieve, or a full pardon 1 Under the Constitution of 
the United States, this cannot be done, nor can it 
take place without a gross violation of that sacred fiat 
of the American people. 

The courts of a State in which a person might be 
accused of committing treason, would not be likely to 
afford the accused an impartial trial. Hence the law 
of Congress quoted above, has made it the duty of all 
" persons having knowledge of the commission of any 
of the treasons aforesaid," as soon as may be, to u dis- 
close and make known the same to the President of 
the United States," or to some other officer sworn to 
support the Constitution thereof. And why? Mani- 
festly because the Courts of the United States are the 
only proper or lawful tribunals in which the acoused 
could be tried. Persons having such knowledge, and 
concealing it, or not disclosing it to the proper officers, 
are, by the law of Congress aforesaid, declared to be 
guilty of misprision of treason, and liable to imprison- 
ment and fine. 

Suppose an overt act of war, by persons owing alle- 
giance to the United States, should be committed in 
the State, or in the City and County of New York, 
and the persons having knowledge thereof should con- 
ceal it ; or, instead of promptly giving notice to the ex- 



TREASON DEFINED. 

eculive or judicial magistrates as provided by the law 
of Congress, should prefer a complaint to the Grand 
Jury of the City and County of New York ; would not 
such persons he guilty of misprision of treason ? The 
Grand Jury are not the magistrates referred to in the 
Act of Congress. It may be that not one of them is 
a magistrate or justice at all. It might be that some 
of the traitors would be in the panel, and that they 
would resort to this course to mitigate their punish- 
ment in case of conviction, or, what is more probable, 
to suppress all inquiry into their crimes. 

The Constitution of the United States, Art. 5 of the 
amendments, declares — " Nor shall any person be sub- 
ject for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy 
of life or limb;" "nor be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law." 

If the same overt act be both treason against a 
single State, and treason against the United States, a 
person having committed that act, might " be subject, 
for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of 
life" or liberty. 

The Revised Statutes of New York impose the pen- 
alty of death upon " every person who shall be con- 
victed of treason against the people of this State." 
Some persons in Rhode Island send a man to prison 
for life, for having, as they say, committed treason 
against that State. A man convicted in cither of 
those States, and sentenced for treason against the 
State, might be pardoned by the Governor thereof, 
and immediately thereafter, for the same act, might 
be indicted, tried, convicted, sentenced to death, and 
executed, by the authority of the United States. Nei- 
ther the indictment, trial, conviction, sentence, nor 
pardon, of the authorities of New York, for treason by 



TREASON DEFINED. t 

an overt act of war against the Slate of New York, 
could be received in the Courts of the United States as 
a plea in bar of an indictment for treason against the 
United States, found against a person for the commis- 
sion of the same act of offence. It would no more be 
a valid plea, than would an act of the mobs of Ken- 
sington or Southwark. Nor can such an unwarrant- 
able assumption of power by a State, have the slight- 
est claim to be considered as " due process of law." It 
would be difficult to conceive of a more atrocious per- 
version of that constitutional shield of individual pro- 
perty, liberty, and life, than to raise the act of a mob, 
or the unlawful assumption of power by a State, to the 
dignity of " due process of law." 

An extract from Story's Commentaries upon the 
Constitution, being the last paragraph of the author's 
remarks upon the power of Congress to punish treason, 
is deemed to be an apposite conclusion of this subject. 
The extract sufficiently indicates, that it is not within 
the scope of the mind of the learned jurist and com- 
mentator, to conceive the possibility of the existence 
of a case of treason, committed against a State, under 
the Constitution, which is not at the same time, trea- 
son against the United States. 

" The power of punishing the crime of treason 
" against the United States is exclusive in Congress ; 
" and the trial of the offence belongs exclusively to the 
" tribunals appointed by them. A State cannot take 
" cognizance, or punish the offence ; whatever it may 
" do in relation to the offence of treason, committed 
" exclusively against itself, if indeed any case can, 
" under the Constitution, exist, which is not, at the 
" same time, treason against the United States." 3d 
Story's Com. on Const. "§ 1296, p. 173. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



When, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to as. 
sume among the powers of the earth the separate and 
equal station to which the laws of nature and of na- 
ture's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opin- 
ions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident — that all 
men are created equal ; that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness. That to secure these rights, governments are 
instituted anion £ men, deriving their just powers from 
the consent of the governed ; that whenever any form 
of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to 
institute a new government, laying its foundation on 
such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness. Prudence indeed will dic- 
tate, that governments long established should not be 
changed for light and transient causes, and accordingly, 
all experience hath shown, that mankind are more dis- 
posed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right 
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are 
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and 
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. U 

evinces a design to reduce them under absolute des- 
potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such government, and to provide new guards for their 
future security. Such has been the patient sufferance 
of these colonies ; and such is now the necessity which 
constrains them to alter their former systems of gov- 
ernment. The history of the present king of Great 
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, 
all having in direct object, the establishment of an 
absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let 
facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most whole- 
some and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of im- 
mediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in 
their operation till his assent should be obtained ; and 
when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend 
to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommo- 
dation of large districts of people, unless those people 
would relinquish the right of representation in the 
legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formida- 
ble to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places 
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the deposi- 
tory of their public records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into a compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, 
for opposing with manly firmness his invasion on the 
rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolu- 
tions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legis- 
lative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned 
to the people at large, for their exercise : the state 



10 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers 
of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of 
these states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for 
naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to 
encourage their migration hither, and raising the con- 
ditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by 
refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary 
powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for 
the tenure of their offices, and the amount and pay- 
ment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of new officers to harass our people, and 
eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing 
armies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent 
of, and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a 
jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknow- 
ledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of 
pretended legislation. 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish- 
ment for any murders which they should commit on 
the inhabitants of these states. 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world. 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent. 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of 
trial by jury. 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 11 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to 
render it at once an example and fit instrument for 
introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies. 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms 
of our governments. 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in 
all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us 
out of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, 
burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of for- 
eign mercenaries to complete the works of death, deso- 
lation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances 
of cruelty and perfidy scarce paralleled in the most 
barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a 
civilized nation ! 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken cap- 
tive on the high seas, to bear arms against their coun- 
try, become the executioners of their friends and breth- 
ren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections among us, 
and has endeavoured to bring en the inhabitants of 
our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose 
known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruc- 
tion of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have peti- 
tioned for redress in the most humble terms ; our repeat- 
ed petitions have been answered only by repeated inju- 
ries. A prince whose character is thus marked by every 



12 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler 
of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British 
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of 
attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir- 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, 
and we have conjured them by the ties of our common 
kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would in- 
evitably interrupt our connection and correspondence. 
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and con. 
sanguinity. We must therefore acquiesce in the neces- 
sity which denounces our separation, and hold them 
as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in 
peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United 
States of America, in general congress assembled, 
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by 
the authority of the good people of these colonies, 
solemnly publish and declare, That these united col- 
onies are, and of right ought to be FREE AND 
INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the British crown, and 
that all political connection between them and the 
state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dis- 
solved ; and that as free and independent states, they 
hive full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts 
and things which independent states may of right do. 
And for the support of this declaration, with a firm 
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we 
mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, 
and our sacred honour. 



CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES, 



We the people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- 
vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America : 

Article I CONGRESS. 

Section 1. — Legislative Powers. 

1. All Legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall 
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Section II.— House of Representatives. 

1 The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of members chosen every second year by the people of 
the several states, and the electors in each state shall 
have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most 
numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall 
not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and 
been seven years a citizen of the United States, and 
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that 
State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor- 
tioned among the several states which may be included 



14 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES — SENATE. 

within this Union, according to their respective num- 
bers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
number of free persons, including those bound to ser- 
vice for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual 
enumeration shall be made within three years after the 
first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and 
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such 
manner as they shall by law direct. The number of 
Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each state shall have at least one repre- 
sentative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, 
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York- 
six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 
one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, 
South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation 
from any State, the executive authority thereof shall 
issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their 
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole 
power of impeachment. 

Section III. — Senate. 

1. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the 
Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator 
shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in con- 
sequence ol the first election, they shall be divided as 
equally as may he into three classes. The seats of the 
Senators of the tirst class shall be vacated at the ex- 



SENATE. 15 

piration of the second year, of the second class at the 
expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at 
the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may 
be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen 
by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the 
Legislature of any State, the executive thereof may 
make temporary appointments, until the next meeting 
of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine 
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for 
which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-Fresident of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless 
they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and 
also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the 
Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of 
President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all 
impeachments : when sitting for that purpose, they 
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall 
preside : and no person shall be convicted without the 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not ex- 
tend further than to removal from office, and disquali- 
fication to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust 
or profit under the United States : but the party con- 
victed shall nevertheless be liable and subject to in 
dictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according 
to law. 



16 ELECTIONS POWERS OF EACH IlOl'SE. 

Section IV.— Election of Members. 

1. The times, places, and manner of holding elec- 
tions for Senators and Representatives, shall be pre. 
scribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but 
the Congress may at any time by law make or alter 
such regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in 
every year, and such meeting shall be on the first 
Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint 
a different day. 

Section V.— Powers of each House. 

1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, 
returns and qualifications of its own members, and a 
majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do busi- 
ness ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance 
of absent members, in such manner, and under such 
penalties as each House may provide. 

2. Each House may determine the rules of its pro- 
ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, 
and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a mem- 
ber. 

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceed- 
ings, and from time to time publish the same, except- 
ing such parts as may in their judgment require 
secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of 
either House on any question shall, at the desire of one- 
fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, 
shall without the consent of the other adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other plaee than that in 
which the two Houses shall be sitting. 



wMi'ENSATION PRIVILEGES, ETC. BILLS. 11 

Section VI. — Compensation — Privileges^ S,-c. 

1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive 
a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by 
law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. 
They shall in all cases except treason, felony and 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at the session of their respective 
Houses, and in going to or returning from the same : 
and for any speech or debate in either House, they 
shall not be questioned in any other place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the 
time for which lie was elected, be appointed to any 
civil office under the authority of the United States, 
which shall have been created or the emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased during such time : 
and no person holding any ofRce under the United 
States shall be a member of either House during his 
continuance in office. 

Section VII. — Bills and Resolutions, kc. 

1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives ; but the Senate may pro- 
pose, or concur with amendments, as on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become 
a law, be presented to the President of the United 
States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not, he 
shall return it, with his objections, to that House in 
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the 
objections at large on their journal, and proceed to 
reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds 
of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the objections, to the other House, 
by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap- 



18 POWERS OF CONGRESS. 

proved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a 
law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses 
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and' the names 
of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be 
entered on the journal of each House respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the President within 
ten days [Sundays excepted] after it shall have been 
presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like 
manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by 
their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it 
shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the con- 
currence of the Senate and House of Representatives 
may be necessary (except on a question of adjourn- 
ment) shall he presented to the President of the United 
States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be 
approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall 
be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, according to the rules and limitations 
prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Section VIII. — Powers of Congress. 

1. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect 
taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts 
and provide for the common defence and general wel- 
fare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and 
excises shall be uniform throughout the United States : 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United 
States : 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes: 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies through- 
out the United States ; 



rOTVERS OF CONGRESS. 19 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and 
of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and 
measures : 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting 
the securities and current coin of the United States: 

7. To establish post offices and post roads: 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful 
arts, by securing for limited times to authors and in- 
ventors the exclusive right to their respective writings 
and discoveries : 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme 
court : 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law 
of nations : 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land 
and water: 

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropria- 
tion of money to that use shall be for a longer term 
than two years : 

13. To provide and maintain a navy : 

14. To make rules for the government and regula- 
tion of the land and naval forces : 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to exe- 
cute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and 
repel invasions : 

16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplin- 
ing the militia, and for governing such part of them 
as may be employed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States respectively, the ap- 
pointment of the officers, and the authority of training 
the militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress : 



20 PROHIBITIONS AND PRIVILEGES. 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases 
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding' ten 
miles square) as may, by cession of particular States 
and the acceptance of Congress, become the scat of 
government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of 
the Legislature of the State in which the same shall 
be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock 
yards, and other needful buildings : — And, 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, 
and all other powers vested by this constitution in the 
government of the United States, or in any department 
or officer thereof. 

Section IX. — Prohibitions and Privileges. 

1. The migration or importation of such persons as 
any of the States now existing shall think proper to 
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to 
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a 
tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not 
exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall 
not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or 
invasion the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be 



4. No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration 
herein before directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported 
from anj' Mate. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation 
of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over 



STATE RESTRICTIONS, ETC. 21 

those of another : nor shall vessels bound to, or from, 
one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury 
but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; 
and a regular statement and account of the receipts 
and expenditures of all public money shall be published 
from time to time. 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States: and no person holding any office of profit or 
trust under them, shall, without the consent of the 
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or 
title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or 
foreign state. 

Section X. — State restrictions, <$-c. 

1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or 
confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; 
coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make any thing but 
gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; 
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law im- 
pairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title 
of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Con- 
gress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, 
except what may be absolutely necessary for executing 
its inspection laws ; and the nett produce of all duties 
and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, 
shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United 
States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the re- 
vision and control of the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, 
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war 
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact 



22 ELECTION OF PRF.SlDhVI. 

with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage 
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent 
danger as will not admit of delay. 

Article II.— P RESIDENT. 

Section 1. — Election for president. 

1. The Executive power shall be vested in a Presi- 
dent of the United States of America. He shall hold 
his office during the term of four years, and, together 
with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows : 

2. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the 
Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, 
equal to the whole number of Senators and Representa- 
tives to which the state may be entitled ia the Con- 
gress : but no Senator or Representative, or person 
holding any office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

3. The electors shall meet in their respective states 
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, 
one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the 
same state with themselves ; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct 
ballots the. person voted for as Vice-President, and they 
shall make distinct, lists of all persons voted for as 
President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-Presi- 
dent, and of the number of votes for each, which lists 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit scaled to the 
scat of the government of the United States, directed 
to the president of the senate; the president of the 
senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house 
of representatives, open all the certificates, and the 
votes shall then be counted: The person having the 
greatest number of votes for President, shall be the 



ELECTION OF PRESIDENT. 23 

President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ; and if no person have 
such majority, then from the persons having the high- 
est numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those 
voted for as President, the house of representatives 
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 
But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken 
by states, the representation from each state having 
one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two-thirds of the states, and 
a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a 
choice. And if the house of representatives shall not 
choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall 
devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March 
next following, then the Vice-Psesident shall act as 
President, as in case of the death or other constitutional 
disability of the President. 

4. The person having the greatest number of votes 
as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from 
the two highest numbers on the list, the senate shall 
choose the Vice-President : a quorum for the purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of 
senators : a majority of the whole number shall be neces- 
sary to a choice. 

5. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- 
President of the United States. 

6. The Congress may determine the time of choos- 
ing the electors, and the day on which they shall give 
their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout 
the United States. 

7. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citi- 



24 POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT. 

zen of the United States, at the time of the adoption 
of this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of 
President, neither shall any person be eligible to that 
office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty- 
five years, and been fourteen years a resident within 
the United States. 

8. In case of the removal of the President from office, 
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the 
powers and duties of the said office, the same shall de- 
volve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by 
law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation 
or inability both of the President and Vice-President, 
declaring what officer shall then act as President ; and 
such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability 
be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

9. The President shall, at stated times, receive for 
his services a compensation, which shall neither be 
increased nor diminished during the period for which 
he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the 
United States or any of them. 

10. Before he enters on the execution of his office, 
he shall take the following oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear, (or affirm) that I will faith- 
fully execute the office of President of the United 
States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect and defend the constitution of the United 
States. 

Section II. — Powers of the President. 

1. The President shall be commander in chief of 
the army and navy of the United States, and of the 
militia of the several States, when called into the ac- 
tual service of the United States ; he may require the 
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of 



DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT. 25 

the executive departments, upon any subject relating 
to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall 
have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences 
against the United States, except in cases of impeach- 
ment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two- 
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, 
and all other officers of the United States, whose ap- 
pointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall be established by law: but the Congress 
may by law vest the appointment of such inferior offi- 
cers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in 
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all va- 
cancies that may happen during the recess of the 
Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire 
at the end of their next session. 

Section III. — Duties of the President. 

1. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
information of the state of the Union, and recommend 
to their consideration such measures as he shall judge 
necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary 
occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, 
and, in case of disagreement between them, with re- 
spect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them 
to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive 
ambassadors and other public ministers : he shall take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall 
commission all the officers of the United States. 



26 IMPEACHMENT JUDICIARY. 

Section IV. — Impeachment of Officers. 
1. The President, Vice-President, and all civil offi. 
cers of the United States, shall be removed from office 
on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bri 
bery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

Article III.— J UDICIARY. 

Section I. — Courts — Judges. 
1. The judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferioi 
courts as the Congress may from time to time ordair 
and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and 
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good be- 
haviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
services, a compensation which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Section II.— Judicial Powers— Civil— Criminal. 

1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law 
and equity, arising under this constitution, the laws 
of the United States, and treaties made, or which 
shall be made under their authority ; to all cases af- 
fecting ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
suls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- 
tion ; to controversies to which the United States shal< 
be a party ; to controversies between two or more 
states — between a state and citizens of another state- 
between citizens of different states — between citizens 
of the same state claiming lands under grants of dif- 
ferent states— and between a state, or the citizens 
thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall 
be a party, the supreme court shall have original juris- 



TREASON STATE RIGHTS. 



87 



diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the 
supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as 
to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such 
regulations, as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of im- 
peachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be 
held in the state where the said crimes shall have been 
committed; but when not committed within any 
state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the 
Congress may by law have directed. 

Section III. — Treason. 

1. Treason against the United States, shall consist 
only in levying war against them, or in adhering to 
their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No per. 
son shall be convicted of treason unless on the testi- 
mony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on 
confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the 
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason 
shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except 
during the life of the person attainted. 

Article IV. -STATE RIGHTS. 
Section I. — Restitution and Privileges. 
1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state 
to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of 
every other state. And the Congress may by general 
laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records 
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 
Section II. — Privilege of Citizens. 
1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all 
privileges aod immunities of citizens in the several 
states. 



SJD NEW STATES HOW ADMITTED. 

2. A person charged in any state with treason, 
felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and 
be found in another state, shall, on demand of the ex- 
ecutive authority of the state from which he fled, be 
delivered up, to be removed to the state having juris- 
diction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labour in one state 
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in 
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis- 
charged from such service or labor, but shall be de- 
livered up on claim of the part}' to whom such service 
or labor may be due. 

Section III.— JVew States. 

1. New states may be admitted by the Congress in- 
to this Union ; but no new state shall be formed or 
erected within the jurisdiction of any other state ; nor 
any state be formed by the junction of two or more 
states, or parts of states, without the consent of the 
Legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the 
Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the 
territory or other property belonging to the United 
tStates : and nothing in this constitution shall be so 
construed as to prejudice any claims of the United 
States or of any particular state. 

Section IV. — State governments, Republican. 
The United States shall guaranty to every state in 
this Union a republican form of government, and shall 
protect each of them against invasion ; arid on appli- 
cation of the Legislature, or of the executive, (when 
the Legislature cannot be convened,) against domestic 
violence. • 



AMENDMENTS. 29 

Article V.— AMENDMENTS. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to 
this constitution, or, on the application of the Legisla- 
tures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a 
convention for proposing amendments, which in either 
case shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part 
of this constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures 
of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions 
in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode 
of ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; pro- 
vided that no amendment which may be made prior to 
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in 
any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the 
ninth section of the first article ; and that no state, 
without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suf- 
frage in the Senate. 

Article VI.— DEBTS. 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered 
into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be 
as valid against the United States under this constitu- 
tion, as under the confederation. 

2. This constitution, and the laws of the United 
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; 
and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under 
the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
law of the land ; and the judges in every state shall be 
bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of 
any state to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before men. 
tioned, and the members of the several state Legisla- 
tures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of 
the United States and of the several states, shall be 



Ill RATIFICA.TIO.V AMENDMENTS. 

bound, by oath or affirmation, to support this constitu- 
tion ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office or public trust under the 
United States. 

Article VII.— RATIFICATION. 
The ratifications of the conventions of nine states 
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this consti 
tution between the states so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the 
states present, the seventeenth day of September, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven, and of the independence of the United 
States of America, the twelfth. In witness whereof 
we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEO. WASHINGTON, 
President and Deputy from Virginia. 



AMENDMENTS. 

Article? in addition to, and amendment of, the Constitution of the 
United States of America, proposed l>y Congress, and ratified i.y 
the Legislatures of the several states, pursuant to the filth arti- 
cle of the oiiuinal Constitution. 

Art. 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exer- 
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of 
the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to as- 
semble, and to petition the government for a redress of 
grievances. 

2. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the 
security of a free state, the right of the people to keep 
and bear arms shall not be infringed. 



AMENDMENTS. 31 

3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in 
any house without the consent of the owner, nor in 
time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

4. The right of the people to be secure in their per- 
sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable 
searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no 
warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported 
by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or 
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in 
the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in ac- 
tual service, in time of war or public danger ; nor shall 
any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled 
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; 
nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for 
public use without just compensation. 

6. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall en- 
joy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an im- 
partial jury of the state and district wherein the crime 
shall have been committed, which district shall have 
been previously ascertained by law ; and to be inform- 
ed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be 
confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his fa- 
vour ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his de- 
fence. 

7. In suits at common law, where the value in con- 
troversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the light of trial 
by jury shall be preserved ; and no fact tried by a jury 



6Z AMENDMENTS. 

shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the 
United Slates, than according to the rules of the com- 
mon law. 

8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments in- 
flicted. 

9. The enumeration in the constitution of certain 
rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
others retained by the people. 

10. The powers not delegated to the United States 
by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, 
are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. 

11. The judicial power of the United States shall 
not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity 
commenced or prosecuted against one of the United 
States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or 
subjects of any foreign state. 



WINDT'S PIUNTKRY, 



From. Shelbtyille, Tennessee. 

The people have risen in their strength to put down the vile 
serpent of /Secession, which would wind its slimy form around 
our people and crush out every patriotic feeling in their bosoms. 
Tennessee has 6hown that she will not bo led astray by the de- 
lusive eloquence of political demagogues and intriguing office- 
seekers. In our State " freedom of speech" is beginning to be 
respected. A man can express hi3 opinion of Slavery pro or con 
with no fear of being molested by fanatical fire-eaters. From 
indications shown during the last three weeks, 1 think that I can 
safely say that in the nest four years a Republican ticket in this 
State will make an excellent run. I know that this couuty will give- 
a majority in favor of a Republican. A man need only show his 
hand, and stick up to it, and he will succeed. Let a man run in 
this State with the principle inscribed uu his banner that "All men 
are created free and equal,'" and he will get a majority in four 
years from now. I have heard many substantial men say, during 
the last month, that they would "willingly, cheerfully, give up 
every negro (they had them), if it would save the Union." There 
are many men in this State who are patiently waiting for the right 
opportunity to declare their abhorrence and detestation of the 
horrible " moral and social evil" which now exists in the South. 
There is a report extant here saying that a bill is about to be, or 
was, introduced by a member of Congress to purchase the slaves 
in Tennessee, and make her a Free State. It is useless to ex- 
peud money in that way, for the time is not far distant when 
Tennessee will open her eyes, and see the great sin of Slavery. 
I pray God that that time will soon come. Stand to your prin- 
ciples, and trust in God. 

If coercion is attempted (and it ought to be) , there are thou- 
sands in Tennessee who will light for this glorious Union. There 
is a Union flag floating above our town. It is saluted each night 
by a Union company. Three-fourths of the people of this county 
will vote for the total abolition of Slavery rather than have this 
Union dissolved. 



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